Thanks to eBooks and Kindle, my wish list and downloads are ever increasing never decreasing. However, the challenge is how do I get to read all of these books and get the maximum benefit out of them?

I only have 24 hours in each day, two eyes to view the books and two hands to hold the book while reading at any particular time. Along with my increasing personal and business responsibilities.

In comes audiobooks!

Now I can focus my eyes on something else while listening to a book.

With audiobooks, you can engage your hands while hearing the words read out. Imagine what happens in the situation – learning continues even while doing your chores, traveling, exercising or waiting for an appointment.

No more logging around heavy book bags. No more worrying about creating more book space at home or work. And definitely no more guilt trips about reading less because there’s business or life to attend to.

I had my first audiobook experience without any planning or fuss. It was recommended at the end of a business pod cast I enjoy listening to, so I took up the recommendation with a thankful spirit. Afterall, it came with an offer to read the first book free on Audible – who will give up such an opportunity? Definitely not me.

Can you guess what I did?

Sign up of course! It was a no-brainer.

The Audible experience was awesome and since I was already a Kindle and Amazon fan – I was only happy to test-run Audible. Audible is Amazon’s marketplace for audiobooks.

I finished the first book in only a few days without much effort. That was such an exciting accomplishment. My reading goal was to read at least two books each month. With audiobooks it was obvious I could do more. The possibilities… ahh!

I felt my excuses had been stripped away. I could still listen to books and juggle my other demands.

Although I am dominantly a visual learner, the listening experience nicely compliments the learning process as I found out listening to my favourite personal development titles and authors.

Audibooks are your gateway to faster reading and learning. If your books are gathering dust and bookshelves overflowing yet you are not getting much reading done, try listening to audiobooks.

Here are the top 5 reasons why I love audiobooks

1. Speed

Audiobooks allow me a faster reading time which means I can read more books in the time that I usually read prints/ eBooks. More books = more learning.

2. Convenience

Just like eBooks, the audio version is easy to log around and can be synced to multiple devices. This means listening ‘hands-free’ while organising things, cleaning, exercising, commuting and traveling.

3. Time management

With audiobooks, I have less guilt trips. I can fill up some work time or down time with guilt free reading by taking advantage of the pockets of free time that pop up throughout the day.

4. Auditory experience/ stimulation

Listening to the narrator’s voice makes a great listening experience. I also find some of the words more contextual when heard.

If it is the author of the book who is doing the narration, it helps create a rapport especially if I have listened to earlier works of that author.

I can listen again and again to get inspiration from beneficial phrases, expressions and whole paragraphs.

5. Better listening skills

It training-in-progress to develop even better listening skills. As much as I naturally love listening to others, it takes some grit and perseverance to listen to hours upon hours of narration There’s usually nothing to see/ look at for a change but much more to hear.

I usually have my pen and journal close by to take notes.

You have many options to try them out with, but if you are an Amazon fan you can try out Audible for a free 30-day trial and cancel at any time. They are awesome folks, because they let you keep the book even if you cancel the trial.

Here’s how you can test run it:

– Click here.
– Sign for free.
– Download and get listening.
– You can sync to your devices or leave on primary device such as phone.

The mobile app allows you to download or stream the books and it comes with badges to help you keep track of how much reading you are getting done.

Here are just a couple of my favourite personal development audiobooks.

Comments

I love books – I love holding them and reading them so much that I find it difficult to even read ebooks. I keep being recommended various audio books because I really don’t have much free time in the day at all with personal and work commitments but I haven’t got round to trying one. I feel like when I read, I have a voice in my head and that shapes the narrative for me but I think I’m going to be daring lol and try signing up like you’ve recommended and listening to one of the books you’ve listed above. That’s my challenge this week inshaAllah!

I absolutely feel you on that… holding books, having a certain voice, image and even specific features of the characters within. Still, I really hope you take up the challenge and listen to an audiobook soon-ish. Would love to hear about the experience insha Allah.

lol I don’t know I really am a hold a good type of person :/ hate reading novels off a screen too..sigh old fashioned in that sense, I know environmentally it’s not good but I just love holding books, the new smell lol weirdooo..but I do think if you have terrible listening skills, or your kids do that listening to audio books are a good way to improve that.

I love books. Paperback, hard cover, Ebook ….but audio books, have never tried them. Neither do I trust my listening skills to listen for such a long time with intense concentration. I might end up daydreaming halfway.

But the fact that I am a mum now with almost nil time for books, I think I should give audio books a try.

I feel you all the way… but if my listening skills can respond positively so can yours insha Allah. And you don’t have to listen to all of the book at once. Break it down in bits over days. It usually remains in the same position that you stopped so you can take off easily. Do give it a try.

I feel you… I love holding books too. And for the longest time I resisted against even eBooks but in the real world there are just too many books to read and not enough time to hold them all. Let me know how it goes when you get to try it out.

I know… the real book lovers never seem able to let go of their good ol’ physical books attachment. I’m not a fan of speed too, I’m yet to speed up on my audiobooks. Surprisingly, I got the message of the book loud and clear with my first audiobook. I thought it would take a few trials to get familiar with it. All it requires is matching the right task with listening, like working out as you said. It took me out of my comfort zone – and brought about a kind of new self awareness about the potential and power of listening.

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